Something only we know
by NouisInStripes
Summary: East End football thug Pete is one of the hardest blokes you will ever meet. At 22 he's the head of one of the most formidable firms in the country, The GSE. Then you have Lu, a good girl who somehow ends up in the middle of Pete, The GSE and all the other shit that comes with the latter. Pete is head over heels, but loyalties to the GSE run deep, can Pete cling onto both?
1. Chapter 1

"What so you're telling me you wouldn't shag her then?" Keith asks as he jogs down the station steps.

"Who, Kate Moss?" Swill laughs loudly, grinning from ear to ear at the thought of shagging a supermodel with loads of dosh.

"Nah, she's too skinny, plus she's on all the gear that's going, don't know what she's got, where she's been, do I?" Ike laughs.

"What about that Natasha bird from Atomic Kitten?" Keith chips in, looking at Ike with a raised eyebrow.

"Something about her I don't like." Ike shakes his head

"I think you're a bit gay mate." Dave teases as they reach the platform.

When the train comes they all settle down, beer cans still in hand, at this time of night the tube was empty, and they were only a few stop's away from home.

"So you really think he's that good looking?"  
Lu looks at Caroline who was in deep thought.

"Yeah?" She shrugs, cigarette between her fingers, offering it to Lu who makes a face and shakes her head.

"No thanks, I've been surrounded by them all night and I don't smoke anyways."

"Neither do I." Caroline laughs as she takes a drag of her cigarette.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, you're a 'social' smoker." Lu laughs, knowing that was a load of bullshit and Caroline didn't want to admit she had fallen back into a pack a day habit

Lu and Caroline made their way down to the platform, yawning. Caroline being a few years older had been a raver back in the 90's, and used to roll into work at 9, straight from the night before, it was evident that those days were coming to an end.

"At least i haven't got to go to that fucking hell hole until Monday." Lu yawns again, flipping her phone up to look at the time, it was only 2.30, but she had been up since 7 the previous day, and she was feeling it now.  
Her heel clad feet were killing, her back was sore from work, her voice was getting croaky from the shouting and singing, and she could just about keep her eyes open.  
Plus, she had been picking Caroline up off the floor all night, once she gets a drink in her, all spacial awareness and coordination goes out the window with her, and to think everyone thought Lu was clumsy.

"Finally." Caroline mutters as the train pulls in and she straightens herself up, clambering into the carriage, Lu getting on behind her.

A chorus of wolf whistles echo through the carriage and Lu looks at Caroline, men were so animalistic at times, sometimes she swore something had to be in a skirt and barely breathing and they would want to fuck it.

"Pricks" Caroline mutters under her breath, taking Lu's hand and they make their way in to the next carriage, taking a seat and sighing once more as they rested their aching feet.

"I don't care, the shoes are coming off, I don't give a fuck any more" Caroline whines, stomping her heel into the train floor as she lifts the other foot up so she can reach the ridiculously tiny buckle.

"No you're not" Lu smacks her hands away. "You've come this far, we are like four stops from home, something stupid like that, you are no quitter." Lu winks.

Caroline emits another heavy sigh, putting her foot back on the floor.  
"Fine...I suppose I would rather have sore blistered feet, than pick out grit and glass from them."

After a couple of stops, Lu stands up, holding onto the pole as she hauls Caroline to her feet, hearing a bunch of lads chanting West Ham till I die.

Lu laughs, shaking her head as the chanting gets quieter and quieter until it fades away completely.

"Wasn't your Dave a West Ham fan?" Caroline quizzes as they walk along the platform.

"I wish you wouldn't call him that, we broke up a good few years back now. He's like a brother now, we grew up together Caz."

Lu links arms with Caroline to keep her steady as they walk up the steps.

"It's fucking bitter." Caroline groans as they get to the top of the tube steps,

"Stop moaning" Lu retorts. "It's a fifteen minute walk home, we'll survive and then we can get into bed and you can piss me off with your snoring"

Out of nowhere, whistles erupt again and they look over to a group of lads, leaning against some railings.

Lu laughs and shakes her head, seriously, what is it with blokes?

"Lu?" One of the guys calls out, and Lu's head snaps back.

"Dave?"

Pete's eyes raked up and down the taller girls body, clad in a jumpsuit that coupled with her heels, made her legs look like they went on for miles, her breasts jiggled as she laughed and she had strawberry blonde hair that skimmed the bottom of her shoulder blades, with creamy skin peeking out from the back of her halter neck.

"Lu?" Dave pipes up, his eyes narrowing as he fully focuses on the two girls.

"Dave?" Her head snaps back and she looks at Dave in shock.

"What the...fancy seeing you here?" Dave puts his beer can down on the wall, making his way over, Swill, Ike and Keith staring in awe.

"Tell me about it." Lu replies, looking up at Dave.

Dave was her childhood sweetheart, she was 14 when they got together, he was a friend of a friend and they went to school together, they were smitten with each other.  
Dave was Lu's first kiss, her first love, her first sexual experience.  
Things ended when Dave went to uni, they grew up and apart, although they didn't end on a sour note, it hurt too much for Lu to keep in regular contact, but they were like siblings after it, having grown up together in their teenage years.

"You're looking good." Dave smiles, realising how that sounded he coughed." Older I mean, not the 17 year old I knew."

"Yeah...you look older to, but I heard jet setting as an airline pilot did that to you." Lu smiles fondly teasing him, Dave was clever and she was glad he put it to use and followed his dreams.

"Oi, are we gonna get going or what, its brass monkeys out here." Keith shouts at Dave, who was taking way to long with this bird, no matter how fit she was.

Pete still had his eyes on her, he couldn't help it, she was beautiful, and she was different. Not like the girls he knew, who would moan and bitch, doing anything for a lad's attention.

"You heading home?" Dave asks, looking up so he could actually remember where he was, ignoring the hollers of his mates.

"Yeah, just going to walk there. Anyways, you best get going, don't want to get you in shit with your mates."

"Hurry the fuck up mate." Swill shouts, getting more impatient by the second.

"You go on ahead, I'm gonna walk 'em home" Dave shakes his head.

"Dave, I'm a big girl now, it's alright." Lu laughs softly, taking Caroline's arm. "I'll see you around, Alright?"

"Yeah...Ok..." Dave nods, trying to remember she was a grown woman now.

"Bye" She waves , Caroline giving him a wave and a quick 'Bye dave'

"Bye Caz" he smiles slightly at her, walking back over to his mates who are firing questions at him left right and centre

"You soppy piece of shit." Swill grins, laughing. "You got rejected mate."

"Leave it Out, She's an old friend." Dave laughs. "I was being nice, which is more than what you wankers can say."

Swill and Keith launch into another West Ham song, and Pete starts to crack up when up the road they hear a girl yell back "West Ham 'til I die! I'm West Ham until I die!"


	2. Chapter 2

"So Dave, that bird last night, you used to shag her when you were kids?" Keith raises his eyebrow.

"I used to date her Keith." Dave rolls his eyes, flicking his ash into the cigarette tray.

"Got your knickers in a twist, ay?" Bovver snickers." Ike said that girl had you all soppy."

"You're one to talk Bov, your face permanently looks like a slapped arse." Dave scoffs, getting up to get another round at the bar.

"Oi Oi!" Pete calls as he walks in, getting a cheer.

"Petey boy!" Swill laughs, waving manically, as if they would be anywhere else than their usual table.

"D'you want a pint?" Dave asks, getting ready to pay for the others.

"Na, gotta go to Steve's." Pete shakes his head." Just thought I would stick my head in, check you lot are alive after the amount you necked down last night"  
Pete checks his watch, he wasn't about to run for the tube. "Right, I'll see you lot later, not that you would of moved by the time I get back."

Pete heads out of the Abbey, going towards the tube, it was a bit of a bitch to get to Steve's, but he knew it would take him longer to drive than on the tube and he wasn't in the mood to sit in a jam in central, he couldn't fucking abide London traffic in rush hour.

Getting on the tube, he stands up, holding the railing above him to make sure he doesn't crash in to anyone else, letting his eyes close slightly, to distract from the fact that he had some geezer breathing down his neck, it couldn't be helped.

"Yeah, I'm about to get on the tube now." Lu yawns, wrapping her arms around herself as she walks through the tunnels to the platform.

"Well let me know when you've gotten home Alright." Caroline responds, they had spent the majority of the day in bed, Caroline hungover and Lu just tired.

"Yeah I will, speak to you later, Alright?"

"Alright, Love ya?"

"Love ya too." Lu laughs and hangs up, stuffing her phone in her bag so she can battle her way onto the train.  
Pushing through the people, especially the inconsiderate business men who didn't care who they stepped on as long as they got onto the train, Lu manages to get on, becoming very aware that this bloke was looking at her, she looked down, but could still feel his eyes on her, mentally undressing her, he was old enough to be her dad.  
Lu turns around, wanting to avoid all eye contact and just as she does, someone else pushes on, making her smack into the person next to her.

"I am so so sorry..." Lu begins, but when she looks up, her lips part slightly, her words stopping. It was that lad Dave was with, the tall one, with the short blonde hair and the piercing blue eyes.

"Don't worry about it." He smiles, biting his lip slightly, the annoyed look melting off his face once he realised who it was." I'm Pete by the way" He offers a cheeky smile.

"Hi, I'm Lu" Lu can't help but blush at the smile.

More people push their way into the carriage, pressing Lu up against Pete, not that she minded, she really hoped neither did he. Pete placed his hand on her mid back, keeping her steady, his other hand holding onto the railing above.

"You Alright?" He continues, noticing the wanker who was looking at her quickly look away when he saw Pete with her.

"Yeah...yeah I'm fine..." she says softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Not with your mate, no?" Pete laughs.

"Oh god no, she's still in bed, absolutely hanging." Lu laughs. "I've been in bed all day but I was just knackered."

"Yeah, It was pretty late, weren't it?" Pete smiles, feeling Lu's body get pushed against his even more as the train picks up its next lot of passengers.

Lu's senses heighten, feeling Pete's lean, muscular body against hers, his hand placed on her middle back was slowly dipping towards the bottom of her back, testing the waters.

"Mhm..." Lu murmurs, not being able to speak, to focused on Pete. God his eyes were gorgeous, like really really gorgeous, and the buzzed hair suited him really well, like even his jaw and neck was good looking, how someone even has a good looking neck, she thinks to herself.

Lu suddenly realises that Pete's talking to her .  
"So when's your stop?" Pete asks, prompting Lu to look up at the cracked screen by the carriage ceiling and she grimaces.

"Uh two stops ago..." She looks back at Pete, who bursts into laughter, shaking his head.

"Fucking Hell, am I really that good looking?" He teases, taking his chances with the flirting.

Lu's face burns, but she tries to keep her cool, rolling her eyes." You wish mate." She smirks at Pete. "Its fine, I'll get a lift from the next station."

"Oh, conveniently, that's my Stop?" Pete grins at Lu who raises her eyebrow.

"You're getting off at Bank?"

"Yes, you always so bloody cheeky?" Pete laughs as the train pulls in to Bank, and everyone pushes their way on and off. It takes Lu a minute to make her way through the people, unlike Pete who pushes his way through.

"You don't mind it." She smiles as they head for the steps, getting to the top of them, Lu whips her phone out sending a quick text to someone, before looking at Pete.

"You want me to wait?" Pete asks, he couldn't help asking." It's getting dark and that?"

"My lifts on its way, its ok, thanks though." Lu smiles, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Right then...I'll see you around..." Pete smiles, slightly disappointed, he would of loved to of stayed and warmed her up...

"Bye." She smiles, waving slightly as Pete begins to walk across the square, disappearing into the side roads.


	3. Chapter 3

Pete was standing by some railings, waiting for Bovver to come out of the paki shop, having ducked in to buy some fags when he saw her, and he laughed, putting on his best smile.

"You stalking me again?" He calls across the road, grinning as Lu looked up confused from her phone.

She grins when she sees Pete, laughing." Yeah, of course?"

"It's because I'm a 10, isn't it?" Pete smirks, cocking his head to one side.

"Oh yeah, , you wish." Lu laughs.

Pete puts his hand on his chest, feigning heartbreak. "That really hurt me." He grins however." C'mere?" He beckons her over.

"No, you come here?" She laughs, crossing her arms.

"C'mere!" He laughs and she shakes her head again.

"No, you come here, Pete." She laughs once more.

"Fucks sake." Pete laughs and quickly jogs over to her.

"What do you want?" She teases him some more, looking up, she was tall, but she still had to look up at Pete, which she liked for some reason.

"What are you doing?" He laughs.

"I'm on my lunch break?" She smiles

"What do you work as?"

"I work in a pharmacy." She nods, sipping her coat up some more.

"Fucking Hell." He laughs. "So you're a pharmacist?"

"No, I'm not that clever, I kind of do what a pharmacist does but I'm not as high up."

"Ah I see..."

"Oi, Dunham, What the Fuck are you up to?" Bovver shouts, noticing Pete on the opposite side of the road talking to some bird.

Pete ignores him." I best let you go then, don't want to waste your lunch hour." Pete smiles at her.

"I'll see you around, Pete." Lu smiles as Pete begins to walk back over to Bovver.

"Yeah, see you." Pete calls back.  
Bovver has a face like a slapped arse, which wasn't unusual, he was a miserable cunt at the best of times, but he was Pete's best friend, like brothers they were.

"Who was that? Was that the bird from the other night?" Bov asks, fag hanging out of his mouth as usual.

Pete rolls his eyes, but nods, lighting up his own cigarette as they walk along.  
"Yeah, that was her, Lu they call her."

"The lads were all right, she's fit as fuck, would like to get my leg over her." Bov smirks, imagining it in his head right now.

"Yeah well don't let Dave hear you say that, he's protective of her." Pete shrugs.

"I don't give a fuck, I'll say what I want, Dave can do one." Bov goes back to being a miserable git almost immediately.

Pete rolls his eyes once more, Bov's fuck everyone and everything mentally coming back quickly after he's had his fun.

"Yeah, work was shit." Lu sighs as she holds her phone to her ear, throwing her coat onto the hook, immediately going to mooch around in the kitchen.

"When is it not babe?" Caroline responds on the other end.

"Oh you'll never guess who I saw the other day, I can't believe I forgot to fucking tell you!" Lu screeches slightly, wincing at the fact she sounded like a 16 year old girl who had just seen the hot boy in their year.

"Who!?" Caroline asks quickly.

"From the other night, outside the tube where I saw Dave? His mate..."

"The fit one? Like the really really fucking fit one who I said I wouldn't mind...you know..."  
Caroline shouts.

"Yes!" Lu laughs. "On the tube home, and then I saw him the next day."

"You bitch, why didn't you tell me!?" She laughs.

"I honestly don't know, I was going to ring you like straight away but I missed my fucking stop, had to get my dad to pick me up, I was too busy staring at him."

"Oh my god." She laughs. "Anyways, thank fuck it's the weekend, do you want to go out into town tomorrow? I can't face going by myself, I'll end up killing the next person who pushes me."

"Yeah, I'm free tomorrow so." Lu yawns, wanting nothing more than to sink into bed, but she was starving.  
"Shit, I think I'm gonna have to go and get something to eat..." She sighs.

"You wanna be quick, looks like it's gonna piss down."

"Yeah, I best get going then, I'll speak to you later babe."

"Alright, Love ya." Caroline hangs up, leaving Lu to quickly change out of her work stuff, grabbing her bag, she heads out the front door, trying to think what she wants.  
Does she go to Tesco and buy something to cook, or just get a takeaway, and should she get a cab, to save her a 20 minutes' walk?

She gets about 10 minutes into the walk, and she's about to turn down a side street, mentally noting her dad would kill her if he knew, but she stops when she sees a group of chavvy looking boys, debating whether if ifs even worth her walking past.

Lu takes a deep breath, wrapping her arms around herself and she continues to walk down the side street, trying to ignore the cat calls and hollers.

"Alright darling." One snickers, his mates laughing hysterically for some odd reason.

Lu ignores them, not in the mood to deal with what will happen if she replies.

"What you doing down here all alone darling?" Another laughs." If you were looking for me, you only had to call?"

Lu becomes aware the boys are following her down the Side Street, and picks up her pace, to add to the shit situation she's gotten herself into, it starts to lash down.

The hollers and cat calls are getting louder, and she sees a pub on the corner across the road, looking both ways quickly, she jogs across the road, hastily swinging open the door, sighing in relief that the lads seem to think it's too much trouble to follow her in.  
Lu feels her clothes stick to her skin, wondering why, even with Caroline's warning, she didn't take her coat.

Lu looks up, having set her bag on an empty bar stool, seeing the whole pub stopped and staring at her, she swallows hard, tucking her wet hair behind her ear.  
"You Alright Love?" She looks up to see a kind looking man behind the bar.

"Uh, yeah thanks, sorry, it's lashing down, I just ducked in until it dies down. Sorry..."

"it's ok love, don't worry..."

"Lu?" A familiar voice echoes through the pub, and she looks around, seeing it coming from a thick cloud of smoke at the back of the pub.

Pete see's Lu soaked at the entrance of the pub, making his way over, he knew it wasn't his style, but she looked lost, and he couldn't help himself with her.

"Pete?" She questions, why the fuck did she keep running In to him, now he really was going to think she was stalking him.  
"What are you doing here?" She asks.

Pete laughed. "I could say the same for you. This is sort of my place of business." Pete raises his eyebrow.

"I was walking to the shops, some guys started hassling me and then it started to pour down so I ducked in here." She mumbles, absolutely freezing.

"Here." Pete takes his jacket off, draping it around her shoulders and Lu slips her arms in, it smelt like him, not that she's smelt him, but if she did, this is what she imagined he smelt like.  
God that was a bit weird, she couldn't help but think to herself.

"Thanks" she says softly, wrapping her arms around herself once more.

Pete looks out of the window of the Abbey, it was pissing down. "Stay here for a bit, until it lets up, Yeah?" He says, leading her over to the table.

Dave comes out of the lav, seeing Lu soaked and dishevelled, wearing Pete's jacket.

"Lu, You Alright? What are you doing here?" He asks, concerned.

"I'm ok, bit of a story, I'm just staying until the rain lets up." She says, sitting down where Pete was sat a few minutes ago.

Lu is properly introduced to everyone by Pete.

"And this here's Nad, that's Swill, Ike and Keith is the one with the tragic haircut." Pete laughs, getting the finger from Keith.

"Hi." Lou smiles, tucking her hair behind her ear again.

"Right, whose round is it?" Keith asks.

"Mine" Nad laughs, pulling a £20 out of his pocket. "What do you want to drink Lu?" He asks, smiling at her.

"Uh..." she hadn't expected this. And I'm the presence of Pete she had completely forgotten what she liked to drink.

"Get her a vodka lemonade." Dave says, looking over at her. "That's still your usual, yeah? When you're not necking cider?"

"Yeah..." Lu smiles shyly, surprised Dave remembered.

"You a cider girl?" Ike laughs." Not what I expected, was thinking cosmos or something."

"No, vodka or cider." Lu laughs softly as Nad goes to the bar, Swill with him to help him carry the pints back.

"I'm surprised you remembered." Lu looks at Dave as Pete sits next to her.

"What can I say, I've got a great memory." Dave shrugs with a smile.

"Oi, what one of you lot wants to play me at pool, I'll stick a fiver in?" Swill offers as he brings back some pints to the table for the lads. "Lu I'll play you, I've played everyone here this afternoon."

"Yeah, and lost." Pete laughs loudly.

"I don't know..." Lu stands up, taking Pete's jacket off as she was warming up. "I haven't played in a while..."

"Oh well this will give me a chance to redeem myself?" Swill grins, a sure win for him.

"Ok, I mean, I guess I can try right?" Lu nods, grabbing the pool queue and the chalk, grabbing a fiver out of her wallet to add to the bet.

"As long as you don't pot the wrong ball you'll be sweet." Ike nods as Swill chalks up his queue.


	4. Chapter 4

"Fuck...she beat me...fuck..." Swill looks in disbelief at the lads, who are pissing themselves with laughter.

"I thought you said you hadn't played in a while?"

"I haven't." She smiles. "Not for a couple of weeks." She grins as she takes the £10 off the table and sticks it in her wallet.

The boys erupt into laughter again as Lu sits down, finishing the last of her vodka, picking up the cider that was bought for her at some point while she kicked swills arse at pool.

"Well I fucking ain't playing you." Ike laughs and she turns to Pete, who's got this silly grin on his face.

"What?" She laughs, as he sits lazily with his cigarette and pint.

"Nothing, honest." He laughs and necks down the remainder of his pint, chucking the glass down on the table with a thud.

Lu stands up, heading for the bathroom and the lads wait for the door to shut, before looking at each other.

"Fuck me." Keith shakes his head." She's something, ain't she?"

"Tell me about it..." Swill shakes his head, not quite believing he lost to a bird.

"Why'd you let her go, mate?" Nad shakes his head.

"Oh Leave it Out boys." Dave sighs, lighting up another cigarette." We had our reasons for ending it."

"Well Pete fancies the Fuck out of her." Ike laughs, snapping Pete out of his trance.

"Fuck off." He shakes his head, girls like her, didn't go for guys like him, he knew that.

"Make a move mate." Ike laughs again." Before someone else does. Trust me."

Lu looks at herself in the mirror of the dingy bathroom.

Her hair was going curly from the rain, and her makeup was clinging onto her skin as best it could, she looked alright, not amazing, but alright.

She didn't expect to run into Pete, otherwise she would have pulled herself together a little more.

She washes her hands, heading back out to the lads who all cheer "There's the pool shark!"

Lu laugh. "I wouldn't say I'm a pool shark, I haven't played all of you yet." She smirks, winking as they all laugh.

Lu plays Swill again, who was determined to beat her, and he was not going to lose to a bird _again_.

"Swill, I've come to the conclusion you're just really shit at pool" Lu says as she leans over the table, only three balls left.

Pete watches her lean over, her arse sitting perfectly in the hip hugging jeans she was wearing, the bottom of her back showing as the t-shirt she had on rose up as she leans over to get her shot.

Lu pots the remaining balls with ease, and walks back to the table to grab her drink, Swill looking even more defeated.

"Well, what a load of fucking bollocks." Swill shakes his head, not believing he'd lost again, not only his dignity, but his money to.

The boys begin to rip the shit out of Swill for losing to Lu yet again, telling him it was his round.

"You having another?" Swill asks Lu, who shakes her head.

"No, I've got to get going actually." Lu looks at the time, getting far to late, and she was still starving.

"Aw, What?" Keith groans." I wanted you to batter Swill again, I would pay to see it."

"Maybe another time." Lu laughs, handing Pete back his jacket.

"Nah, keep it, looks better on you anyways..." He grins, making Lu blush deeply but she slides it on.

"Thanks.." she murmurs, grabbing her bag. "I'll see you guys, thanks for a fun evening." She leans over and gives Dave a hug, saying bye to the rest of the boys and as she walks out, she stops, giving Swill a hug too, promising him that rematch another time.

"Pete...walk her home..." Dave looks at Pete, who doesn't get it at first.

"Yeah?" Pete looks at Dave. He has been hesitant about flirting with her all night, because Dave was there and he had his history with her, he didn't want to kick Dave in the teeth.

"Yeah go on." Dave smiles.

"Go on Dunham!" Swill cheers as Pete hurry's to the door, catching Lu crossing the road outside.

"Oi!" He calls, making Lu turn around.

"At least let me walk you home?" He looks at her and she can't help but smile widely, nodding.

"Mm I guess so. But who's stalking who now?" She teases him.

"I guess I'm stalking you now." He laughs as he crosses the road.

"You know I came out for food, I'm fucking starving still." Lu shakes her head.

Pete nods, she'd been in the Abbey for hours, and it had long ago stopped raining.

"Well let's go get something then?" He looks at her. "There's a decent chippy not too far from here?"

"Mm, yeah I could go for a chippy" she nods as they begin to walk along, it takes about 20 minutes to get there, due to the fact they were pratting about like love sick teenagers.

They walk along with their chips, Pete thought she had too much mayo on them for her own good, and Lu thought Pete had too much tomato sauce for his own good.

"I can't stand tomato sauce." She shakes her head, making a face as Pete licks some stray sauce off his bottom lip.

"Why? It's better than that shit you've got on." He laughs.

"When I was like 4 we were out and my dad told me to close my eyes, he dunked a chip in tomato sauce and put it in my mouth and I cried and I never ever ate it again."

Pete laughs. "Childhood trauma?"

"Yeah, I never recovered." She laughs." My sisters love it, one time one of them had chips with their Indian and put sauce on them, fucking disgusting." Lu makes a face at the memory.

"How many bloody sisters have you got?" Pete laughs.

"Three." She laughs. "I'm the youngest."

"Yeah me too, I've got an older brother though, just the one mind you." Pete laughs, chucking the paper his chips come in away.

Soon they begin the walk back to Lu's place, chatting along the way. Pete never had it so easy with a girl before, he had never been able to talk to one like a mate before.

"This is me..." Lu says, shivering slightly, looking up at Pete who looks at her house and back to her.

"Right then..." he nods, biting his lip. "Well it was a good evening, come and kick swills arse anytime, we'll all appreciate it." Pete laughs, not really wanting her to go.

"I'll keep that in mind." She laughs, biting her lip as well.

"Right, see you then..."

"See you..." She smiles, her breath catching when Pete presses a kiss to her cheek, giving her arm a little squeeze before he heads off, waving at her before he disappears down the street.

Fuck, Pete thinks to himself, he really had done it now, one kiss on the cheek was all it took for Pete Dunham to be hooked, he couldn't quite believe it.


	5. Chapter 5

"Yeah, and then I beat his mate, Swill, at pool, not once, but twice." Lu laughed, looking at Caroline as they walk down the high street together.

"You're such a lad at times Lu" Caroline laughs, shaking her head, but she had to admit, having a mate that could play pool like that when they went out, was fucking class, she remembers a period of time where they never spent their own money buying drinks.

"Ah, it has its perks." Lu laughs, shrugging.

"COME ON YOU IRONS!" Swill yells as they walk into the Abbey, getting cheers from the hordes of West Ham fans inside.

Swill makes his way over to the table, greeting the lads." You look like shit mate." Swill laughs as he lays eyes on Bovver who just mumbles incoherently, flipping him off.

"When don't he?" Keith laughs.

"So, you get any action last night Dunham?" Bovver smirks.

"He was gone for fucking ages, came back, stupid grin on his face." Ike laughs.

"We went to the chippy, I walked her home, and I came back here to you tarts, alright?" Pete shakes his head, picking his pack of cigarettes up. "Where the fuck is Dave?"

Ike checks his phone." He landed half an hour ago, will be here in 20 minutes, just dumping his shit at home and coming here."

"Well He best be sharp if we're having it with the Chelsea lot." Bovver shakes his head, if he had it his way, everyone wouldn't have a job or a bird, and be a full time GSE devotee.  
It's not that the lads weren't dedicated, to some extent football and the GSE came first, it was a way of life.

Half an hour later, Dave makes his way in to the Abbey.  
"Fucking hell, and I thought that Bovver looked like shit." Swill laughs

"Fuck you, I've just gotten back from Washington." Dave laughs, having found five minutes to change before he legged it here.

"Hope you're gonna be on your A game, son." Keith nods, pushing a pint towards Dave.

"Oh, 100% mate." Dave nods, lighting up a cigarette as he gets comfortable.

"Let's have some fun today lads, its fucking match day!" Pete grins

Later that evening, the boys walk back in, singing and chanting, they had drew 1-1 with Chelsea, and had a bloody good scrap after.

They were sore, bruised and battered, but victorious, the Chelsea lot could just about crawl away.

"Good result lads? Terry smirks from behind the bar, knowing full well he wasn't asking about the match result. After all, he was the Major's right hand man back in the day.

"Let's Just say, the Chelsea lot will watch their mouth the next time they see the fierce and famous GSE!" Pete laughs as they all head to their table.

"Oh, Dunham, by the way, you've got a guest. Don't worry, I set her up with a drink at your table." Terry smirks again.

Pete looks over and see's Lu sat at their table, bottle of cider in front of her as she flicks through her phone to pass the time.

The boys all grin, whistling, getting Lu's attention who laughs, putting her phone down.

Pete knew she was going to ask, he could feel his face start to bruise, and they make their way closer, Terry sorting some drinks out for them.

"I just thought I would bring you...what the fuck happened to you lot?" Lu looks wide eyed.

"You should see the other guys." Ike laughs, sitting down in his usual spot.

"Just a bit of match day fun, that's all, now what were you saying." Pete try's to change the subject, sitting down, gently pulling her down by the arm with him.

"I...I wanted to bring you your jacket back, from last night." Lu looks at Pete, his eyes were all bruised, and she was sure they were going to be black by the morning.

"You didn't have to come all the way over here, just for that."

Lu couldn't help herself but feel even more attracted to Pete, he looked gorgeous, even with two black eyes and a cut eyebrow.

"Well, I thought you would want it back." Lu smiles softly.

Drinks start to flow as the boys celebrate their victory, even Bovver whose face looked like a slapped arse once more when he saw Lu was there, was now in a good mood.

Lu puts her arm on Pete's wrist, leaning in to murmur in his ear." Are you sure you're ok?"

Pete can't help but laugh softly at her concern, he was a big, tough looking lad, and yet she was still checking he was alright.

"Yeah, nothing some pints tonight and a double dose of aspirin in the morning can't fix." He laughs, biting his lip as he looks at her.

Pete leans in, to murmur in her ear this time. "Do you want to get some air?" He looks at her, cocking his head to one side.

"Yeah, air would be good." Lu nods. Pete stands up, gently taking her hand in his, and goose bumps rise on her skin at his touch.

The boys smirk as Pete leads Lu outside, and when the cold London air hits them, they both shiver.

Lu takes a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air, it was a pleasant change from the thick cigarette smoke and beer smell inside.

"You cold" Pete asks, noticing her wrap her arms around herself and Lu nods. Pete reaches his arm out, taking her hand and pulling her in to him, wrapping his arms around her.  
"Any better?" He asks, almost nervous, really hoping he wasn't overstepping the mark with her.

"Better." Lu replies, looking up at him.

Fuck it, it's now or never Dunham, Pete reminds himself. He leans down, pressing his lips gently onto Lu's, his arms pulling her a little bit closer as her hands rest on his shoulders.

He pulls away, biting his lip as he looks down at her, as if to ask her if it's ok with her, that he kissed her.

Lu stands on her tip toes, leaning up and kissing Pete again, making him smile against her lips as he deepened their kiss ever so slightly, not wanting to push anything too far.

"Been waiting Fucking ages to do that." Pete mumbles, making Lu giggle slightly into his mouth.  
They break apart after a couple of minutes, getting some much needed air, and Pete can't help but cover lu's mouth with his once more, one hand slowly making its way down her back, resting on her bum.

"I'm surprised you didn't do that on the tube." Lu smirks, remembering how Pete put his hand on her back to keep her steady.

"Oh I thought about it, but I'm a gentleman, aren't I" He grins.

"Hm, I suppose so."

The pair hear a crash, followed by laughter, they look to see that Swill had perched himself on a chair to spy on them out the window, but had fallen off, trying to be sneaky when he got down.

"Oh, fucks sake." Pete laughs, turning Lu around so her back was to the window, kissing her again, to the sound of cheers in the background.


	6. Chapter 6

"I feel like some social retard around him though" Lu shakes her head she looks at Caroline.

"Why? Can you just not hold a conversation with him?"

"That's the bloody thing, there's no conversation to hold. He really doesn't like me, like he makes snide comments, ignores me, and to make matters worse, he's Pete's best friend." Lu sighs, tucking her hair behind her ear as they sit on the sofa talking about the fact that Bovver couldn't stand her, for some reason, a random tv show playing in the background.

"So you're dating?" Caroline asks.

"Well yeah, like nothing official, we're just seeing each other...I think?.." Lu makes a face.

Caroline can't help but laugh at Lu, this being her first relationship since Dave as a teenager. "God you don't even know? Maybe he'll ask you to be his girlfriend?" Caroline shrugs, pulling the blanket over her more.

"Maybe..." Lu shrugs. Pete asking her to be his girlfriend would be the better outcome. Lu hadn't got a clue about dating.  
With Dave it was that they pinned after each other for a little bit and then Dave told her he liked her and the rest was history, clearly that's not how it works anymore.

Lu hears the front door open, and she smiles as she hears her dad sling his car keys onto the hall table.

"Hi dad!" Lu calls from her spot on the sofa, her legs intertwined with Caroline's as she sits on the opposite end.

Lu hears footsteps, her dad, Gerry, sticking his head in with a fond smile.  
"Alright girls?" He smiles at them both, Caroline was a familiar sight in his flat, out of all his girls, Caroline was his favourite friend that his daughters had, so he really didn't mind that more often than not she was sprawled on his sofa watching shit Tv with his daughter.

"Yeah we're fine dad." Lu smiles. She loved her dad, he was a bit of a git at times, but she supposed that was a bit of an occupational hazard of a high stress job.  
Gerry Standing was a four time divorced man, with four daughters, Lu being his youngest, she moved in a few years ago, after Amelia, the second youngest.  
Gerry couldn't deny it, he loved his girls, but they were a pain in the arse sometimes, but he couldn't deny his little soft spot for Lu, he knew he wasn't meant to have favourites, but he couldn't help himself..

"What are you two up to later on then?" Gerry asks the girls as he walks into the kitchen, going for. Bottle of wine after his long day.

"Nothing really?" Lu shrugs. "We don't have any plans really, not tonight anyways, we might go out tomorrow?"

"Just depends on whether we can be bothered." Caroline laughs, sitting up slightly as she leans across the sofa to whisper to Lu "Have you heard from Pete?"

"I saw him on Sunday, but we've both been working this week, we've been texting, but I haven't heard from him since this morning?" Lu shrugs, biting her lip.

"Oh..." Caroline tucking her thick, chestnut hair behind her ear, still sporting a more modern version of 'The Rachel' hairstyle in 2002. "Well he's probably just really busy, and hasn't had time to text?"

"Yeah, that's probably it..." Lu bites her lip once more, getting up to go to the bathroom, as she makes her way down the hallway, passing her bedroom, she stops as she hears her phone ring, All saints Pure shores beginning to play, she makes her way into her bedroom to grab it, quickly flipping it up quickly when she sees Pete's name flashing.

"Hello?" She answers quickly.

"Hi..." Pete grins upon hearing Lu's soft voice. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to answer."

"I was walking past my room when I heard it ring, sorry." She smiles, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"What you up to?" Pete asks curiously, biting his lip.

"Nothing, Caz is here, we were just talking." Lu smiles.

"About me?"

"What?" Lu laughs.

"About how good looking I am?" Pete smirks cheekily, loving when he got a laugh out of Lu.

"In your dreams." Lu teases, although he wasn't far off, Caroline did find him really hot, and told her it was her duty to get his kit off ASAP.

"Seriously though, you're not doing anything? It's Friday night, I just thought you'd be doing something?" Pete asks.

"Nope, just at home, why, do you have anything to offer?" Lu smirks, not usually this forward, but she heard that blokes liked girls who knew what they wanted, so she was willing to give it a try.

"I could think of a few things we could do?" Pete laughs, trying not to actually think about that, so he didn't distract himself." Well, normally on a Friday I'm in the pub."

"Wow that's a shocker?" Lu teases him, always in that bleedin pub.

"How about I come get you, we'll find something to do?" He laughs.

"When can I expect you?" Lu looks at the time on her alarm clock.

"Give me half an hour?"

"Hm, Ok, I guess I'll see you then?" She can't help but tease him some more.

Pete just laughs." See you then babe, bye."

Babe...the way he said that repeats over and over in her head, it's so stupid, she's acting like a teenager, she's technically a grown woman.

"Lu?" Caroline calls, walking into Lu's bedroom.  
Shit, she had forgotten Caroline was here.

"Don't be annoyed..." Lu looks at Caroline.

"Why? What have you done?" Caroline looks at her worriedly.

"Pete called me, I'm meeting him in half an hour..." Lu bites her lip.

"Oh thank fuck for that." Caroline sighs deeply in relief. "I thought something was seriously wrong then, don't fucking do that to me!"

"I'm sorry!" Lu says as she shuts the door to her bedroom as Caroline sits on the bed, Lu beginning to rake through her wardrobe to find something decent to stick on.

"Lu you could be wearing a fucking bin bag and he'd still want you." Caroline rolls her eyes, flipping her phone open.

"Yeah, I wish." Lu shakes her head, pulling a pair of jeans out and sliding her tracksuit bottoms off.

"Seriously, the way he looks at you, I'm surprised you two haven't hopped into bed already."

Lu doesn't respond to that, throwing on a cream knitted jumper as she makes her way over to her mirror.  
Ten minutes later, Lu feels she looks presentable enough to see Pete.  
Caroline was getting ready to go as Lu sprayed some perfume on.

"Pete's text you" Caroline nods as she puts her jacket on, looking at Lu's phone. "He's at the tube, he'll be here in five minutes."

"Shit I better get a move on, I'm gonna meet him at the end of the street, can't risk dad seeing." Lu shakes her head.

After telling Gerry they were meeting some friends up, they part ways at the end of the street. It was dark and cold already, and Lu stands there in her padded coat, wishing Pete would hurry up so she could move around and warm up.

"Guess who?" A familiar voice grins, hands placed over her eyes.

"David Beckham with any luck?" Lu smirks, leaning back into Pete as he stands behind her.

"Oi, cheeky sod!" Pete laughs as he turns her around, wrapping his arms around her.

"I missed you." He smiles down at Lu.

"I missed you too." She smiles shyly as Pete leans down to kiss her.

"Sorry I didn't text you today, left my fucking phone at home, Didn't I?" Pete shakes his head, remembering how annoyed he was when he skived off from the school assembly this morning to text Lu from his classroom to only discover he left his phone on the bench at home.

"It's Ok, you're busy, I understand that." Lu smiles, kissing him again.

"How was your day, alright?" Pete asks, stealing another kiss.

"Yeah, had work, but it was alright, got my weekend off now?" She leans into Pete's arms that were wrapped around her waist.

"What do you fancy doing then?" Pete grins at her.

"I don't know, i thought you knew?" She laughs.

"Do you wanna stop by the pub, have a couple drinks, then we'll go to mine, watch a film or something?"

"Hmm...Ok, I guess so?" She smirks, biting her lip as Pete laughs.

"Come on, let's go for a drink." 


	7. Chapter 7

The Abbey is buzzing as Pete carefully leads Lu through the crowd around the bar, there's music playing from the juke box in the corner, the bar is packed, and there's nowhere left to sit, except for of course the table at the back where Pete and the lads were permanent fixtures.

"Oi oi!" Nad calls, grinning when Pete and Lu come into his view." And to what do we owe the pleasure of seeing you?" He grins at Lu who laughs as she sits down.

"Nice to see you too, Nad." Lu laughs as Pete slides into the booth beside her.

"Aye!" Swill and Keith grin as they walk over.

"There's my favourite pool partner!" Still grins comically.

"Partner? Swill I kicked your arse?" Lu laughs.

"Well, we'll have to do a rematch when the table is free, I'm on top form tonight, top fucking form!" Swill nods seriously.

Lu feels Pete's hand take hers under the table, and she smiles as he squeezes it gently.

Lu catches Bovver out of the corner of her eye, not hiding his obvious disdain for her and she can't help but sigh, looking down slightly. He was Petes best friend after all, and she really was trying, she was always polite and...well...civil with him?

"You alright?" Pete smiles down at her, making Lu lift her head up, not being able to help herself as she smiles at him, stealing a sneaky kiss from his lips.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Lu yawns slightly, leaning into Pete slightly, who had wrapped an arm around her, smiling softly.

"Long day?" He asks softly, leaning in so she could hear him.

"The longest.." Lu smiles, shaking her head, Fridays were always a shit day where she worked, she was just glad she wasn't Saturday staff anyone since qualifying as a dispenser, she couldn't imagine spending anymore of her Saturdays in there, bored out of her mind.

An hour quickly passes, and Pete tells Lu they'll get going in a minute, head to his place.

"Just gonna pop to the loo." Lu says softly, standing up and carefully stepping over Pete and heading to the ladies.

Pete smiles stupidly, but his face turns sour when he sees Bovver's face.  
"What?" He sighs, exasperated.

"You, and that bird.." Bovver sneers, making a face. "She's always fucking around you."

"And?Im seeing her Bov?." Pete shrugs, standing up.

The boys sit at the table, watching closely what was being said.

"She's not gonna help you out one bit, and she ain't going to stick around when she finds out about the GSE and the stadium riots and all that other Shit we get involved in."

"Bov, at this point, I don't really give a shit, we're seeing each other, we ain't a thing, I haven't got to worry about her knowing that?"

"Well she was sniffing around the other week when we came back from having the Chelsea lot." Bov scoffs.

"Well of course she's going to fucking ask when we looked the way we did?" Pete shakes his head, hearing the door of the ladies open and close, he turns to see Lu, tucking her hair behind her ear as she grabbed her coat.

"Leaving So Soon?" Ike makes a funny upset face.

"What, we didn't even play fucking pool!" Still shouts, disappointed.

"Sorry guys..." Lu laughs softly, lifting her arms up to pull her out from her coat, a sliver of her stomach visible as her cream jumper lifts slightly.

Pete ignores Bovver, who's muttering under his breath, and grabs his coat and puts it on as Lu says bye to the lads.  
When he's done, he takes her hand, saying bye to the lads himself.

"Bye.." Lu bites her lip as she walks past Bovver who just scowls and ignores her and Pete.

"Some fucking bloke to pick a shag over his mates." Bovver looks at the boys who look like anything but agreeing with him.

"She's a nice girl Bov." Keith shrugs, shaking his head.

"She's even nice to you, even though you're being a miserable cunt right now." Nad shakes his head too.  
Bovver grumbles something incoherent, wandering off to the bar for another drink.

"Yeah, So this is my place..." Pete bites his wasn't much, it was clean, a roof over his head and he had everything he needed, and it wasn't the size of a bloody postage stamp either, which was a miracle in London.

"No...I like it...a lot.." Lu smiles as she takes in the West Ham flag above the mantel piece.

"It's nothing amazing, but it's home..." Pete shrugs, smiling at Lu's reaction.

Lu takes her jacket off, placing it on the hook by the door, smoothing her hair down as Pete chucks his in his bedroom.  
Lu sits down as Pete turns the tv on, admiring him from her spot on the sofa.

Lu couldn't help but notice how easy conversation flowed with Pete, like she had known him all her life, there were never any awkward silences, just comfortable ones.

"So, I was thinking about something the other day." Pete smiles, their fingers entwined together. "I've never actually taken you out, on a date.."

Lu smiles and looks at Pete, nodding. "True...very true.."

"So, I wanted to know, if you wanted to, we could? Go out on a date, I mean..." he smiles, almost as if he was shy about it.

"You want to take me out somewhere?" She smiles teasingly. "mm...let me check my calendar..."

"Well if you're too busy for me.." He playfully huffs, turning his head away.

This makes Lu giggle and she pokes his arm. "Pete..Pete...Pete.." she says with every poke.

"No, you've made it clear." He crosses his arms, trying to pretend to be moody.

"Peeeeteeee." Lu laughs, moving to try and climb on him." Pleaaaaaseeeee." She giggles.

"Please what?"

"Pleaaaaaseeee would you take me on a date...pleaaaseee."

Pete smirks as he quickly flips Lu over so she's laying on her back and he holds her wrists down. "Do you not have to check your calendar first, no?"

She smirks slightly, shaking her head. "Mm no, I mean even if it was full, I would clear it for you." She nods.

"Mm, I guess I'll take you out, if you do one thing for me?.."

"Like what?.." Lu raises an eyebrow cautiously.

"Give me a kiss..." Pete almost kicks himself for how fucking soppy that sounds after he says it, but Lu obviously doesn't think that because her lips press against his almost immediately.

"So do I get to go on that date now?" Lu murmurs against Pete's lips, her arms sliding around his neck.

"Yeah...you do..." He murmurs back, nipping her bottom lip gently." You most certainly do.." 


End file.
